S. 3959 

One Hundred Eighteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty four 

An Act 

To require the Transportation Security Administration to streamline the enrollment 

processes for individuals applying for a Transportation Security Administration 

security threat assessment for certain programs, including the Transportation 

Worker Identification Credential and Hazardous Materials Endorsement Threat 

Assessment programs of the Administration, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transportation Security Screening 

Modernization Act of 2024’’. 

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the 

Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration. 

(2) HAZMAT ENDORSEMENT.—The term ‘‘HAZMAT 

Endorsement’’ means the Hazardous Materials Endorsement 

Threat Assessment program authorized under section 5103a 

of title 49, United States Code. 

(3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

States, the District of Columbia, and the territories and possessions of the United States. 

(4) TSA.—The term ‘‘TSA’’ means the Transportation Security Administration. 

(5) TWIC.—The term ‘‘TWIC’’ means the Transportation 

Worker Identification Credential authorized under section 

70105 of title 46, United States Code. 

SEC. 3. STREAMLINING OF APPLICATIONS FOR CERTAIN SECURITY 

THREAT ASSESSMENT PROGRAMS OF THE TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION. 

(a) STREAMLINING.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall take 

such actions as are necessary, including issuance of an interim 

final rule if needed, to streamline the procedures for individuals 

applying for or renewing enrollment in more than one TSA 

security threat assessment program, in particular, the TWIC 

and HAZMAT Endorsement programs, and any other 

credentialing programs as determined by the Administrator, 

by— 

(A) permitting an individual to enroll at any TSA 

authorized enrollment center once for a threat assessment 

program endorsement and use the application, including 
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associated biometric and biographic data, as well as 

information generated by TSA’s vetting, for one of such 

programs to enroll in any other of such programs; 

(B) permitting an individual to visit any TSA authorized enrollment center and enroll in more than one TSA 

security threat assessment program at the same time for 

a fee that is less than the cumulative fee that would 

otherwise be incurred for each such program separately; 

(C) permitting an individual to undergo a streamlined 

and expeditious renewal process; 

(D) aligning the expiration of an individual’s successful, 

valid eligibility determination with the expiration of that 

individual’s eligibility to participate in subsequent TSA 

security threat assessment programs to which the individual applies; 

(E) providing to States the expiration dates for each 

individual’s TSA security threat assessment to ensure a 

commercial driver’s license of an individual who holds a 

HAZMAT Endorsement does not indicate the individual 

is authorized to transport hazardous materials after the 

expiration date of the enrollment of the individual in the 

HAZMAT Endorsement security threat assessment program if such commercial driver’s license has an expiration 

date that is different from the expiration date of such 

enrollment; and 

(F) enrolling an individual in a subsequent TSA security threat assessment program at the minimum cost necessary for the TSA to cover printing, issuance, and case 

management costs, costs associated with the collection of 

any additional biometric and biographic data in accordance 

with paragraph (3), and other costs that are not duplicative. 

(2) STATE REQUIREMENTS FOR STREAMLINING.—Not later 

than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

the States shall carry out the responsibilities of the States 

pursuant to section 5103a of title 49, United States Code. 

(3) SPECIAL RULE.—If an individual under this subsection 

is at different times applying for or renewing enrollment in 

more than one TSA security threat assessment program, such 

individual may be required to revisit a TSA authorized enrollment center for the collection of additional data, such as biometrics, necessary for any such program that were not so 

collected in connection with any other such program. 

(b) PUBLICATION.—The Administrator shall post on a publicly 

available website of the TSA information relating to the streamlining of the enrollment processes for individuals applying for more 

than one TSA security threat assessment program described in 

subsection (a). 

(c) EXPEDITED RULEMAKING.—Notwithstanding sections 551 

through 559 of title 5, United States Code, nothing in this section 

shall require notice and comment rulemaking, and to the extent 

it is necessary to add additional requirements for which limited 

rulemaking may be advisable, the Administrator shall implement 

such requirements through publication of an interim final rule. 

(d) BRIEFING.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 

enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall brief Congress on 

progress made toward the implementation of this section. 
S. 3959—3 

SEC. 4. ELIMINATING DUPLICATIVE COSTS. 

(a) AUDIT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

shall audit the administration of the security threat assessment 

programs by the TSA and the States, including the TWIC and 

HAZMAT Endorsement programs. 

(b) ELEMENTS.— (1) TSA AUDIT.—In conducting the audit of the TSA 

required by subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall— 

(A) identify any redundancies and duplications in costs 

and administration of security threat assessment programs 

that if eliminated would not impact national security and 

any benefits of eliminating such redundancies and duplications and improving the experiences for individuals 

applying for or renewing enrollment in more than one 

TSA security threat assessment program; 

(B) review the impacts of the implementation by the 

TSA of recommendations from previous studies conducted 

by the Comptroller General, including GAO–07–756 and 

GAO–17–182, on increasing the efficiency and effectiveness, 

and reducing costs, of processing applications for enrollment and renewal in TSA security threat assessment programs; 

(C) review the findings of the assessment required 

by section 1(b) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to require the 

Secretary of Homeland Security to prepare a comprehensive 

security assessment of the transportation security card program, and for other purposes’’, approved December 16, 

2016 (46 U.S.C. 70105 note; Public Law 114–278) and 

determine whether the TSA has implemented any remedies 

to redundancies and duplication identified by that assessment and whether such implementation impacted national 

security; 

(D) determine whether there are unique challenges 

rural applicants have with accessing TSA security threat 

assessment programs; 

(E) assess the numbers and locations of enrollment 

centers for meeting the needs of such programs, including 

determining the access provided to rural applicants; 

(F) identify potential opportunities that exist to 

improve the enrollment center operations of and customer 

experience with such programs; 

(G) identify potential opportunities to harmonize the 

enrollment, vetting, and renewal processes of such programs in which similar information is collected for similar 

security threat assessment processes for different vetted 

credentials while not impacting national security; 

(H) identify other ways the TSA can reduce the costs 

of the TSA security threat assessment programs while not 

impacting national security; and 

(I) review the vetting, application, and enrollment processes of each TSA security threat assessment program. 

(2) STATE AUDIT.—In conducting the audit of the States 

required by subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall 

review— 

(A) the administration of the HAZMAT Endorsement 

program by the States; 
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(B) methods by which the States could streamline the 

HAZMAT Endorsement program; and 

(C) any potential barriers States face administering 

TSA security threat assessment programs for individuals 

applying to TWIC and the HAZMAT Endorsement program 

or individuals that already have a TWIC credential. 

(c) REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 

after the date of the completion of the audit required by subsection 

(a), the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 

to the Administrator, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation of the Senate, and the Committee on Homeland 

Security of the House of Representatives a report that includes— 

(1) a summary and analysis of the costs associated with 

the operation and administration of each individual TSA security threat assessment program; 

(2) a summary and analysis of the application and enrollment costs associated with providing an individual multiple 

credentials under TSA security threat assessment programs; 

(3) an identification of any potential duplicative processes 

associated with an applicant applying for, or the vetting or 

enrollment by the TSA of an individual in, a subsequent or 

multiple TSA security threat assessment programs; 

(4) a breakdown of costs borne by applicants for current 

enrollment and renewal processes of such programs; 

(5) ways to improve access to such programs, including 

for rural applicants; 

(6) any potential recommendations to the TSA for reducing 

costs and streamlining the administration and operation of 

each TSA security threat assessment program while not 

impacting national security; 

(7) any potential recommendations for the TSA to administer such programs in a way that would improve national 

security; and 

(8) any potential recommendations for ways States can 

improve their role in administering the HAZMAT Endorsement 

program and streamline the application process or reduce costs 

for individuals seeking multiple transportation security credentials. 

(d) IMPLEMENTATION.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

of the receipt of the report required by subsection (c), the 

Administrator shall— 

(A) implement the recommendations from such report; 

(B) provide to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 

Homeland Security of the House of Representatives a written notification detailing— 

(i) the timeline for implementation of each recommendation from the report; 

(ii) justifications for any implementation timeline 

lasting longer than 2 years; and 

(iii) justifications for recommendations that the 

Administrator has declined to pursue or implement. 

(2) BRIEFINGS.—Not later than 60 days after the date of 

the receipt of the report required by subsection (c), and annually 

thereafter until the date that the TSA has implemented each 

recommendation made in such report, the Administrator shall 
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brief the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of 

the House of Representatives on the implementation of recommendations from the report. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.